Cooks & Cocinas: Carey and Chip Morgan

Updated 10:48 am, Friday, March 8, 2013

Chip, Axel and Carey Morgan enjoy cooking together and experimenting with new foods.

Chip, Axel and Carey Morgan enjoy cooking together and experimenting with new foods.

Photo: Photos By Cynthia Esparza / For The Express-News

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Carey Morgan's kitchen is decorated with a sign she found in a local boutique that described her thoughts.

Carey Morgan's kitchen is decorated with a sign she found in a local boutique that described her thoughts.

Photo: Cynthia Esparza, San Antonio Express-News

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Lemons are sliced for the Limoncello cake Carey Morgan made in the kitchen of her Inwood home.

Lemons are sliced for the Limoncello cake Carey Morgan made in the kitchen of her Inwood home.

Photo: Cynthia Esparza, San Antonio Express-News

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Carey Morgan and her son, Axel, spend a lot of time together in the kitchen of their home. Axel, 5, has been helping his mom prepare food since he was 18-months-old.

Carey Morgan and her son, Axel, spend a lot of time together in the kitchen of their home. Axel, 5, has been helping his mom prepare food since he was 18-months-old.

Photo: Cynthia Esparza, San Antonio Express-News

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The Limoncello cake made by Carey Morgan uses a little bit of Limoncello Liqueur.

The Limoncello cake made by Carey Morgan uses a little bit of Limoncello Liqueur.

Photo: Cynthia Esparza, San Antonio Express-News

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Carey Morgan cuts a piece of the Limoncello cake she made in her Inwood home.

Carey Morgan cuts a piece of the Limoncello cake she made in her Inwood home.

Photo: Cynthia Esparza, San Antonio Express-News

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Axel Morgan, 5, takes a minute before school to taste a piece of the Limoncello cake his mom made.

Axel Morgan, 5, takes a minute before school to taste a piece of the Limoncello cake his mom made.

Photo: Cynthia Esparza, San Antonio Express-News

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Cooks & Cocinas: Carey and Chip Morgan

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A family feared a compact kitchen would cramp their cooking style when all three of them were working. To the contrary, the space has proven comfortable and convenient.

Who's cooking:Carey Morgan, a real estate agent, and husband Chip, an information technology architect at USAA, involve their 5-year-old son, Axel, in cooking. From the time Axel was a toddler, Carey says, she let him choose fruits and vegetables that interested him at the grocery store, and he started learning to identify spices by their scent when he was still in a high chair. “If he smells one he likes, we sprinkle it on pasta so he can try it,” Chip says.

Both Carey and Chip started helping their parents in the kitchen at early ages, and they allow their son to help and experiment with ingredients. Given salad duty on a recent evening, he tossed in everything from lettuce and tomatoes to olives and cheese and a dressing made of oil, vinegar, lime juice and cheese.

What's cooking: The Morgans stick to a healthy eating regimen with lots of plant-based foods, and they enjoy desserts.

“Chip makes really, really good cookies,” Carey says. He marvels at her apple pie, a family recipe passed from Carey's grandmother to her mother but never put in writing. Carey learned to trust her senses to get consistent results. “The cinnamon and sugar has to be a certain color and smell just right,” she says.

Nutritious, delicious: The family's health-conscious habits start at breakfast. “We purposefully do not have cereal in the house,” Carey says. “By not having that, we come up with something different each day.” It might be peanut butter on toast or berries and yogurt.

She incorporates pumpkin into as many dishes as possible because of its nutritional value. Axel likes to mix up pumpkin muffins. “The kid can make a pumpkin muffin in no time,” she says.

In this kitchen: The Morgans moved into their Inwood house in 2010 and finished remodeling the kitchen about a year ago.

The space: At about 15 by 12 feet, the kitchen is about three-quarters the size of the one in their previous house, and that has proven to be a good thing.

“When we moved into this home, we had every intention of taking out some walls and trying to expand the kitchen,” Carey says, adding she is grateful they gave themselves time to get to know the space before making changes.

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On the surfaces: Picking up on the existing backsplash of copper mosaic tiles and cream-based granite with flecks of gray and burgundy, the Morgans painted in shades of gray. They updated pink-cast pickled wood cabinets with dark gray paint with a hint of green, Urban Bronze by Sherwin-Williams. The walls are Requisite Gray, a lighter shade from the same chip.

The colors, chosen with the help of designer Debbie Boggs of By Design, are a good neutral palette for adding color through art and accessories. The color choice was complicated because of the sunlight that pours in through a wall of windows across the back of the house,

Dark gray stone floors complement the dark wood floors in adjoining rooms. The flooring, Carey notes, works with the gray but also would pair well with beige paint if they ever want to change color direction.

Why it works: Carey organizes cupboards and drawers according to how things are used. Cake flour, sugars and flavorings are stored together in a baking cabinet, and all savory spices are together in another cabinet.

“I can stay more organized with less effort in this kitchen,” Carey says.

An island that measures 27 by 45 inches provides a good work surface without becoming a barrier. With a larger island in their last home “I almost felt like in was in an obstacle course,” she says.

Know of a good cook with a great kitchen? Email suggestions for Cooks & Cocinas to Home & Garden Editor Tracy Hobson Lehmann, tlehmann@express-news.net.